Starting Up

The resources founders actually use.

Every essay, video, podcast, book and tool behind 1,327 answered founder questions, in one place, each with a note on why it is here.

What founders use most, ranked by how many answers lean on it.

  1. This is the clearest playbook for show, don't ask. The five day structure ends with a rough, facade-level prototype in front of... Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, Braden Kowitz Book · ~280 pages Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days Jake Knapp In 2 answers
  2. A broader companion to the leading questions piece, this covers the shape of a whole interview, from opening rapport to the... Nielsen Norman Group Article · 10 minute read Interviewing Users Jakob Nielsen In 2 answers
  3. A short, plain spoken walkthrough of the same mistakes in action, useful if watching an example lands faster for you than... Nielsen Norman Group Video · 6 minutes Five User Interview Mistakes to Avoid (in 5 Minutes) Therese Fessenden In 2 answers
  4. Before you can interview a competitor's customers, you need to know where they actually spend time online. This tool searches... SparkToro Tool SparkToro SparkToro In 2 answers
  5. Young pushes past surface level feedback into a customer's actual reasoning and guiding principles, which matters once you are... indiyoung.com Book · 250 pages Time to Listen Indi Young In 2 answers
  6. Julian Shapiro's handbook makes the growth marketer's case for a narrow ICP: going broad invites a competitor to pick off your... julian.com Essay · 30 min read Startup Handbook Julian Shapiro In 2 answers
  7. Steli Efti explains how Close.io picked startups and small businesses doing inside sales as their ICP because it was a market... Inside Intercom Podcast · 40 min Understanding your ideal customers and how to sell to them Steli Efti In 2 answers
  8. Ashu Garg, a general partner at Foundation Capital who has backed companies like Databricks, talks specifically about why... The Neon Show Podcast · 55 min Ashu Garg, Foundation Capital on The Neon Show Ashu Garg In 2 answers
  9. Aditya Tulsian built Numberz for Indian small businesses before it was acquired by Chargebee, and this episode is a blunt,... SaaSBoomi Podcast Podcast · 45 min 'Ideal Customer Profile' Truth Bombs, with Aditya Tulsian Aditya Tulsian In 2 answers
  10. This episode is the audio companion to a16z's written ICP framework, useful specifically for the moment your company has grown... a16z Podcast Podcast · 35 min Do You Really Know Your ICP? Why It Matters and How to Find Out a16z Podcast In 2 answers
  11. This piece is built entirely around the phrase super-specific who, consumer-side evidence for the same logic our short answer... Lenny's Newsletter Article · ~12 min read How to kickstart and scale a consumer business: Step 2, Identify your super-specific who Lenny Rachitsky In 2 answers
  12. This framework explains why the next ring of users you are chasing often behaves nothing like your current best users, and why... Bangaly Kaba, on Andrew Chen's blog Essay The Adjacent User Theory Bangaly Kaba In 2 answers
  13. Chen's core claim, that the next big network product always looks like it is for a small, tight niche at first, is directly... Andrew Chen (andrewchen.com) Essay · 20 min read The Cold Start Problem, Chapter One preview Andrew Chen In 2 answers
  14. This is a genuinely usable, free spreadsheet template plus a five step process for writing down your ICP with real specificity... Notion Capital Template Get uncomfortably narrow with an Ideal Customer Profile template Notion Capital In 2 answers
  15. This compilation centers on ServiceChannel's real story of narrowing 'retail' down to a small set of exact target companies... Not Another CEO (ICP Compilation) Podcast The customer segments hiding in your own data Not Another CEO (ICP Compilation) In 2 answers
  16. This names your exact situation as one of six named pivot triggers: customers crave the value proposition but can't or won't... Strategyzer Article · 10 min read The Pivot: 6 Situations When It's Time to Change Your Business Model and Value Proposition Strategyzer In 2 answers
  17. A founder-facing walk through the switch from the Income-tax Act, 1961 to the 2025 Act on 1 April 2026: the single tax year,... Treelife Article · 15 min read The Income Tax Act, 2025 Is Live: Here's What You Actually Need to Know Treelife In 2 answers
  18. The September 2026 news report of SEBI moving the deadline for older angel funds to switch to accredited-only investors from 8... Outlook Money Article · 4 min read SEBI Extends Angel Fund Compliance Deadline for Accredited Investor Eligibility Outlook Money In 2 answers
  19. The news report of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs notification G.S.R. 880(E) of 1 December 2025 that raised the small... Business Today Article · 3 min read MCA raises small company limits: Capital to Rs 10 cr, turnover to Rs 100 cr for easier compliance Business Today Desk In 2 answers
  20. Anthropic's own pricing page: Claude is free with limited use; Pro is $17 a month billed annually or $20 monthly. claude.com Tool Claude pricing Anthropic In 2 answers
  21. Edits a talking video or podcast by editing its transcript, free to start. descript.com Tool Descript pricing Descript In 2 answers
  22. Emergent is an AI app builder founded in India that builds full-stack web and mobile apps from a description. The page lists a... emergent.sh Tool Emergent pricing Emergent In 2 answers
  23. An Indian platform for selling courses, live sessions and consultations from a storefront. The page lists the Starter plan with... exlyapp.com Tool Exly pricing Exly In 2 answers
  24. Steve Blank's definition of a startup as an organisation formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model, and why... steveblank.com Essay · 8 min What's A Startup? First Principles Steve Blank In 2 answers

Show the next 24

Playbooks

A goal, and the route through it a step at a time.

Find an idea worth pursuing Spot problems worth solving and find the one that actually fits you. 4 steps Validate before you build Get real evidence people want it before you write a line of code. 4 steps Understand your customers Talk to real users, define who you're for, and read the market clearly. 4 steps From idea to first customers The idea-stage spine: find a problem, prove it, talk to customers, and land the first ten. 4 steps Build an MVP without code Ship a first version with no-code tools before you hire anyone. 4 steps Build and launch your first product Turn a validated idea into something real people can use. 6 steps Find and work with developers Hire, brief, and work with builders without getting burned. 4 steps Name and brand your startup Name it, design an identity, and say what it does in a line. 3 steps Build a landing page that converts A page that loads fast, earns trust, and turns visitors into signups. 4 steps Get your first customers The scrappy, unscalable work of going from zero to your first paying users. 5 steps Sell it yourself, founder-led Reach out, run the conversation, and close before you have a sales team. 4 steps Grow with content and SEO Compound reach with content, search, and a founder audience. 3 steps Grow with paid ads Spend that returns: the channels, metrics, and loops behind it. 4 steps Price and package your product Charge for value, package it right, and check the numbers work. 3 steps Bootstrap instead of raising Fund growth from revenue, and keep control of your company. 4 steps Raise your first round Understand the game before you pitch: whether to raise, from whom, and on what terms. 5 steps Find a co-founder, split equity Find the right partner and split equity without regret. 3 steps Set up the company right Incorporate, split equity, protect your IP, and make your first hires. 4 steps Survive founder life Mindset, burnout, the leap, and the parts nobody warns you about. 5 steps Build in India The India-specific playbook: schemes, government, enterprise, and the local market. 5 steps

The questions founders start with

What are good startup ideas in India right now? The ideas Indian investors are backing in 2026 sit in a few places: AI built into one industry's daily work (vertical AI for B2B, where software fu... Beginner 5 resources → How do I find product-market fit? Narrow until a small group cannot do without you, then widen. Pick the segment where usage is strongest, talk to those people every week, and chang... Intermediate 9 resources → Do I actually need a co-founder, or can I go solo? You don't strictly need one, but the data says teams outlast solos: complementary skills, shared load, and someone to argue you out of bad calls al... Beginner 3 resources → How do I build an MVP for my startup, step by step? Write down the one assumption that kills the idea if it is wrong, then build the cheapest thing that tests it and get it to real users within weeks... Beginner 9 resources → Which tool should I use to analyse qualitative data like interview notes? For a founder with a dozen interviews, Gemini Notebook, which is free, or Claude, free or $20 a month on Pro: load the transcripts, ask for the rec... Beginner 6 resources → How do I get my first client as a freelancer? Your first client is most likely someone who already knows you or someone they know, so start there before marketplaces. 1) Pick one service for on... Beginner 6 resources → How do I decide how much to charge for my product? Stop guessing and stop pricing off your costs, price off the value the customer gets and their willingness to pay. Talk to customers about pricing,... Beginner 3 resources → Should I raise venture capital or bootstrap my startup? Raise VC only if your business needs a big pile of cash to reach escape velocity before someone else does, and if a 10x-in-a-few-years outcome is g... Beginner 3 resources →

Questions for your situation

The Aspiring Founder The Idea-Stage Founder The Builder The Launcher The Grower The Student Founder The Indie Hacker The Technical Solo Founder The Non-Technical Founder The Domain Expert The Women Founder The Anywhere Founder The Corporate Switcher The Repeat Founder
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